Display package with transparent cover



July 17, 1956 D. E. MCCARTY 2,754,959

DISPLAY PACKAGE WITH TRANSPARENT COVER Fiied Feb. 25, 195:5 2Sheets-Sheet 1 [FEE]. 11

IN VEN TOR. DALE E. Mc CARTY BY A M, r-M

ATT RNEYNS y 7, 1956 0. E. M CARTY DISPLAY PACKAGE WITH TRANSPARENTCOVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1953 FEE. 1111]] [F n E] n 11INVENTOR.

DALE E. McCARTY W, ATTO NEYS United States Patent DISPLAY PACKAGE WITHTRANsPaRENTcovER .Dale E. McCarty, Fostoria, Ohio, .assignor of one-halfto Ro'landW. Miller, Sr., Columbus, Ohio Application FebruaryYZS, 1953,Serial No. 338,687

Claims. (Cl. 206-4533) My invention relates to .a display package. Ithas to do, more particularly, with .a protective package which isespecially suitable for packaging foods so that they can be displayed in.a sanitary and .an appealing manner to prospective purchasers .and alsoserve as a container .after purchase, to facilitate storing .in arefrigerator or cupboard, until the customer is ready to .usethe food.In the following description I refer to the package as being :forpre-cut meats, such as lunch meats, butit is to be .understood that it.can be used for protectively and attractively packaging other articles.

This application is a continuation-.impartof my copending applicationSer. No. 295,940, filed June 27, 1952, now abandoned.

The package of .this invention not only protects the food in a sanitarymanner and displays the contents at- Iractively and appealingly but isalso of such a .nature .that it is readily adaptable .to productionpackaging'methods. Furthermore, the cost of this package is relativelylow. Also, the package is such that it facilitates storing of food in arefrigerator or cupboard. When the food is to be used, the package issuch that it can be removed readily therefrom for serving.

According to my invention, the package consists of an upwardly convexlycurved or bulged supporting base upon which the pre-cut or sliced meat,for examplqris disposed preferably in va neat pile or stack. 'Overthisbasesupported stack of meat, a sheet of transparent protective flexiblecovering material or film is disposed with its edges folded and gathereddown around the base. A retaining band member is then positioned on theedge of the base, the retaining band being provided with a groove on itsinterior surface into which the edge of the base will snap so as to gripthe transparent sheet material between the edge of the base and theretaining band and thereby retain the transparent cover over the meat.The retaining band is flared at its lower side to guide the base intothe band to a position where its edge will snap into the retaininggroove in the band. Both the base and the band are preferably made ofyieldable material -.to facilitate insertion of the base into the band.The flexibility f the base is increased and its insertion into theretaining band is simplified by having it of convex ,form.

The protective film is preferably formed of .a thermoplastic materialwhich will shrink when heated :to a preselected temperature. 'Vinylidenechloride plastics are suitable for this purpose and more specifically,one of the Saran type, manufactured by the Dow Chemical Company, hasbeen found by me to be particularly suitable. This type of film whenheated to a temperature of from 195 to 205 P. will shrink. Therefore, inpackaging (the meat product, according to my invention, after the.package :is assembled as indicated above, it is :preferably dipped inhot water-or sprayed with waterat a temperature of to 205 F. to causethe film to shrink. This will cause the convex base to press upwardly on.the lower surface .of the stack of meat so that the top surface of thestack will be in tight contact with the protective cover .film whichwillbe smoothed by the pressure of contact and will, therefore, give themeata most attractive appearance. This appearance will be enhanced,becausethe pressure exerted by the convex base will cause .the uppersurface of the meat .to assume a similar contour. Furthermore, since thefilm will be .in tight contact with the upper surface of the meat, therecan be no condensation develop between the film and such surface due tovariations in temperatures.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated .in theaccompanying drawings wherein similar vcharactersof reference designatecorresponding parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in sectionshowing a complete package according to my invention with pre-slicedmeat therein.

Figure 2 shows a supporting .base in the form of a dome shaped disc.upon which the (meat is to be disposed.

Figure 3 shows the meat disposed on the disc.

Figure-4 shows the sheet of transparent covering material disposed overthe meat and disc.

Figure 5 is a .plan view of the retaining band in the form of a ring.

Figure 6 shows the retaining ring being applied :over the transparentmaterial and the disc.

Figure .7 shows the retaining ring in final position with the edges ofthe disc snapped therein.

Figure 8 is an enlarged transverse section through the retaining ring.

Figure -9 is an enlarged transverse section through the ring showing theedge of the disc positioned thereon to retain the covering material inposition.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a :convexly curved base of squareoutline for supporting a stack of meat of square outline.

Figure .11 is a plan view of a retaining band to be used on the base ofFigure 10.

With reference to the drawings, in Figure .1, :I have illustrated acomplete package. :I :have shown, for example, a stack of pre-cut lunchmeat as the article being packaged, the .meat being in the form of acylindrical stack C.

The stack of meat C is supported on .an upwardly converrly curved 'base10 which is in the form :of a domeshaped disc preferably of a suitableyieldable :or elastic transparent plastic material. Covering the stackof meat C is a protective wrapper .11 which is transparent and which ispreferably formed of a suitable plastic :fi'lm, which will suitablyprotect the meat and still show it attractively. This film, aspreviously indicated, is of such a type that it will shrink whenimmersed in or sprayed with water at a temperature of from about 195 to205 F. Surrounding the edge of the disc 10 and retaining the lower edgeof the wrapper 11 in sealing engagement therewith is the retaining ring12. This ring 12 preferably is also formed of a suitable yieldableplastic and may 'beco'lored for contrast. It will be noted from Figures1 and 8 that the ring 12 is provided with a lower skirt 13 flaredoutwardly to guide the disc 10 thereinto as will later appear. Spacedupwardly from its lower edge, the ring '12 is pro- 3 vided with adisc-receiving groove or channel 16, the ring being provided with aninwardly offset inwardly tapering lip 15 above the groove 16.

In packaging the meat, a suitable dome-shaped disc of suitable size isselected as shown in Figure 2. Then the cylindrical stack of pre-cutmeat or single piece of meat is rested on the disc as shown in Figure 3.The disc will be slightly greater in diameter than the meat so that itwill be project outwardly therefrom completely around its periphery, butthe diameter of the disc is kept close to that of the meat supportedthereon so that the void annular space around the stack of meat will bekept at a minimum. Next the sheet 11 of transparent material is placedover the stack of meat and is folded downwardly around it and around theedge of the disc 10 as shown in Figure 4. The retaining ring 12 is thenpositioned on the package, as shown in Figure 6, either by moving thering downwardly over the enclosed stack of meat or by lifting the disc10. When the ring 12 and disc 10 are positioned properly relatively, thedisc 10 is guided upwardly therewithin by the flared lower portion 13 ofthe ring and the disc will finally snap into the groove 16 where it willbe retained and the material 11 will be gripped between the ring anddisc as shown in Figures 7 and 9. Any excess of the sheet material 11extending below the ring 12 may be removed by severing it at a suitablepoint below the lower edge of the ring. Because of the dome-shape of thedisc 10, its flexibility is increased and also its insertion into thering is facilitated. As shown in Figure 7, the shape of the edge of thedisc 10 is important. The lower corner of the edge is a sharp knife edge17 which will effectively grip the sheet material 11 which, as shown inFigure 9, will extend a substantial distance below the edge 17 so itwill be effectively gripped. The upper corner is rounded at 18 so thatthe sheet material 11 will not cut or tear along this line when thematerial is shrunk in the manner dsecribed below.

After the package is assembled as indicated above, it is dipped in wateror sprayed with water, vapor or liquid, which will be at a temperatureranging from 195 to 205 F. This will cause the plastic film 11 toshrink. The portion of the film extending below the edge 17 of the ringwill shrink and shrivel and cooperate with the edge 17 to form a seal atsuch edge. face of the disc 10 will push upwardly against the bottom ofthe stack of meat C and will cause its upper surface to tightly contactwith the film. Since the film 11 will tightly and smoothly contact theupper surface of the stack C of meat, the upper surface of the meat willassume the convex contour of the disc 10, as shown in Figure 1. Becauseof this contact, no condensation can develop between the surface of themeat and the film and, therefore, the meat will be displayedattractively regardless of temperature variations. The protective film11 will remain under tension so that the tight contact between the filmand the upper surface of the meat will be maintained. The meat will beso sealed in the package that any substantial shrinkage thereof will beprecluded because the moisture cannot escape therefrom. The groove 16and the inwardly offset portion of the ring 12 above the groove willeliminate any possibility of the disc 10 moving bodily upwardly withinthe ring during shrinkage of the film 11.

The base 10 need not be disc-shaped but can be of square outline, asshown in Figure 10, for supporting a stack of meat of square outline.However, the square base 100 will be Emvex and has an upwardly curvingsurface which is preferably spherical. This base 10a will receive aretaining band 12a of corresponding outline which is shown in Figure 11.Bases and cooperating retaining bands of any polygonal or other outlinemay be provided depending upon the outline of the stack or piece of meator other article to be packaged.

Thus, the meat will be,attractively displayed to prospective customers,the transparent wrapper permitting The convex upper surclose sanitaryinspection. When purchased, the package can be readily stored untilused. When it is to be used, it is merely necessary to snap off theretaining member and remove the wrapper, the meat still being carried bythe supporting base for handling. The yieldable nature of the base andretaining member will facilitate assembling and opening of the package.

Various other advantages will be apparent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a display package and a flexible commodity displayedthereby and comprising a convex base on which said commodity issupported, said base having a marginal area which is a smooth continuousuninterrupted surface that terminates in a continuous grippingperipheral edge, a transparent flexible cover folded downwardly aroundthe commodity and the continuous gripping edge of said base andcontacting said gripping edge, and a continuous retaining membersurrounding the continuous gripping edge of the base and having acontinuous retaining groove formed therein into which the gripping edgeof the base is inserted so as to grip the wrapper between the continuousgripping edge of the base and the continuous outer wall of said groove,said transparent cover tightly engaging the commodity and pulling itdown on the base so that the convexity of the base on which it issupported is transmitted to the flexible commodity to produce a convexupper surface on the commodity beneath the cover so as to provide anattractive appearing upper surface on the commodity displayed beneaththe cover, said convex base when in expanded condition being of sucharea that it extends into said continuous groove and the convexitythereof facilitating flexing downwardly and inwardly to provide forreduction in area to permit snapping into said continuous groove inassembling the package and commodity.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said base has an edge with aknife-edge lower corner and a rounded upper corner, the knife-edge lowercorner contacting the outer continuous wall of said groove to moreeffectively grip the cover and the rounded upper corner preventingcutting or tearing of the cover as the edge of the base is snapped intosaid groove.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which said base and said retainingmember are of flexible plastic material, said base being transparent topermit viewing of the com modity from the bottom of the package.

4. The combination of claim 2 in which the retaining member is flaredoutwardly below the continuous groove to provide a continuous skirt forsupporting the package in upright position for display and to guide theedge of the base upwardly into said groove so as to facilitatecontracting the base to a reduced area during assembly of said base andsaid retaining member, said groove being formed in the retaining memberat a level spaced above the lower edge thereof and the retaining memberbeing offset inwardly above the groove.

5. In combination a display package and a commodity displayed therebycomprising a convex base on which said commodity is supported, said basehaving a marginal area which is a smooth continuous uninterruptedsurface that terminates in a continuous gripping peripheral edge, atransparent flexible cover folded downwardly around the commodity andthe continuous gripping edge of said base and contacting said grippingedge, and a continuous retaining member surrounding the continuousgripping edge of the base and having a continuous retaining grooveformed therein into which the gripping edge of the base is inserted soas to grip the wrapper between the continuous gripping edge of the baseand the continuous outer wall of the groove, said transparent covertightly engaging the commodity and pulling it down onto the base toprovide for attractively displaying the upper surface of the commoditydisplayed beneath the cover, said convex base when in expanded conditionbeing of 5 such an area that it extends into said groove and theconvexity thereof facilitating flexing downwardly and inwardly toprovide for reduction in area to permit snapping into said continuousgroove in assembling the package and commodity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6Ehrlich Jan. 9, 1937 Frost May 9, 1939 McCoy Aug. 8, 1939 Hays et a1.July 2, 1940 MacIntyre Aug. 12, 1941 Brown Oct. 12, 1943 Testi May 18,1948 Irons et a1. Jan. 16, 1951 Teufel July 8, 1952 Ramsbottom et alDec. 9, 1952

